The Christmas Party
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: Set in the same timeline as 'Divorce' and 'Death' with the twins Amber and Mikaela Bailey, but a year after Rachel and Sean were divorced. Rachel and the others enjoy the Christmas cheer. Focuses more on the characters. Please read and enjoy.


**Disclaimer - I don't own Scott & Bailey. If I did, then - well who knows what would happen? I would have a bit more added to the storylines, not enough to be complex or too over the top, but I would definitely have made sure Rachel's baby in season 1. In season 3, Sean would not look like a victim, Rachel was - well, both of them would have been to blame for the breakdown of their marriage.**

 **End of speech. In this oneshot, the place and the party are not important, but the PEOPLE are.**

 **Merry Christmas!**

 **Scott & Bailey.**

 **The Christmas Party.**

Syndicate 9's Christmas decor was simple rather than over the top. It was to remind the police officers they still had work to do, and DCI Gill Murray would not allow them to slack off. It was amazing how many crimes actually took place during the period. Over the pictures of her twin daughters, Rachel Bailey had a smile on her face as she focused on her work. Rachel had always loved Christmas, well the idea of it. She didn't give a toss about its religious significance either. To her Christmas was a time where she could spend time with her friends and family. Yeah, that sounded hypocritical since she had spent a lot of time putting a bit of a gap between herself and her sister, but It was preferable to the commercial image of the season. She loved the food, the presents, the colours, the tradition of putting a tree up, the music and the carols. Now, normally a person as cynical as Rachel was would probably frown, huff and puff at the amount of cash carelessly thrown about, but Rachel had good reason to enjoy Christmas. Though she did bemoan the amount of shit people put out to make a quick buck. It was ridiculously expensive sometimes.

It stemmed from her mother abandoning her family; back then, Alison had been forced to work herself to the bone, dropping out of school to help take care of their little family, whilst their alchy piece of shit of a dad had been lounging around, teaching their Dom bad habits. Things had always been tight, but Alison had gone out of her way, since to her Christmas was the epitome of what a family occasion should be, to try to make Christmas that much more special. True, there had been fewer presents, but Alison had not let it bother her. In fact it had led to an unspoken promise in their family to keep presents to a minimum, let the rich bastards chalk out for tons and tons of presents that were things rather than what was more important, family. Rachel had helped her sister whilst still at school, and though Alison had done the most to care and nurture her family, her younger sister had turned out to not be slouch herself, though she had been driven mostly to provide financial security. Her contributions to the family kitty had made sure Christmas was more affordable. Rachel had grown to appreciate those occasions, and now she was a mother herself she went out of her way to make Christmas a time to remember for her daughters.

"Have you done your shopping yet?" Janet Scott asked from her own desk opposite, making Rachel look straight at her. The blonde DC's eyes were darting from her own computer screen to the brunette opposite her. Rachel nodded. "Yeah," she replied, "did it over the weekend. What are your plans for Christmas?"

Janet shrugged. "Get the party over and done with, and just spend the day with the girls and mum. You?"

"Much the same, only I'm spending it with Alison and her kids for the year. Now Amber and Mikaela are up and mobile, I need all the space I can get," she replied. "Besides, it's kinda traditional for me to spend time round Alison's this time of year."

"You know what, it occurs to me you spend more time there at Christmas than you visit the rest of the year-" Janet stopped when she realised she might be stepping past her boundaries. "Sorry, I shouldn't-"

"No," Rachel replied quickly. "It's okay." She went silent, then began speaking again as she maintained her focus on her computer at the same time; Janet followed her example.

"It's been like this since my mum left us. Times were tough, but Alison being a big believer in family and keeping things happy, made a big thing out of Christmas. Sure, I'm not a big believer in how Christmas is such a magical time, but I'm not a Scrooge. I just don't like the commercial idea of it. I love the little things over the Christmas, but Alison went to so much trouble and eventually I even added cash to the Christmases we had. Now, I've got the twins, and its still a big thing now."

Janet nodded, saying nothing about her friend's past, understanding and imagining. Deep down she felt envious for Rachel because she had twins, but she remembered raising Elise and then Taisie, only separately. The Bailey twins were a year old now, and they were adorable. They were now more mobile, capable of crawling at phenomenal speed, but now they could waddle as well, and their speed record was shooting up all the time. Janet wasn't sure if the girls were emulating their mum, or their lying cheat of a dad, and she was not stupid enough to ask. At least something good had come out of Rachel and Sean's short marriage. Janet envied Rachel there as well; she had tried hard at first to keep her own lamented and yet unlamented marriage to Adrian afloat, but she knew she had been lying and deceiving herself, yet her daughters knew her marriage was a sham. Sure, Adrian had helped keep them afloat, but really he had been a terrible husband and an equally terrible dad. It was cruel, but it was true. Adrian had lost interest in his family since the death of their son, and maybe it was her fault for burying herself in her work, her job, and her friends.

But he was not innocent himself. He had allowed himself to be snowed under at his job as a teacher, and he had treated his own daughters like they were students in his bloody classroom. No wonder he had found it unbearable to care for Taisie or Elise's period pains, or the rest of their behavior.

She envied her best friend because she knew Rachel had known, soon after her wedding, the whole thing was a fucking sham, but she had tried to make something out of it, tried to convince herself she and Sean were meant to be. Unfortunately it exploded in her face when she caught him shagging those teenage girls like rabbits, in their bed. Rachel had not hesitated in chucking them out, all of them, including Hayden and Sean though she had forgiven those girls. Janet wondered if Rachel had felt free at that point, like she had when she had chucked Adrian out, though that had been a mutual breakdown caused by the pair of them. Sometimes she wanted to kiss Taisie and her mum for driving Ade away, but she held back.

"How is Alison?" she asked, anything to stop herself remembering the bad times she had had with Adrian; it embarrassed her that some of her pals had witnessed the breakdown of her marriage, and she didn't like thinking about it when she knew she could have made it less painful. Rachel's eyes were dancing as they locked back on the blonde, not seeing the churning of emotions under Janet's skin. "She's fantastic. Oh, she sends her best, and this," Rachel reached down into the bright red bag sitting by her chair, and pulled out a card and a brightly wrapped present. Janet took it, and the others labelled separately for her daughters and her mum's, reading Alison's handwriting, "Happy Christmas, Janet and family. Love Alison."

She also took the presents for her daughters and Dorothy. "That's really nice of her," she commented, taking the presents and placing them on the corner of her desk.

"I'll give you your presents soon," Rachel promised her, "I'm wrapping them all up at the moment, and I'll get them sorted out soon."

Janet, who had already planned to give her colleagues their presents and cards at the party, nodded. "Thanks," she replied. Rachel smiled, and then, moment passed, the two policewomen got back to work. Then one of the newer DC's came over. "Hi," he asked in a pantomime whisper. "What's the Christmas do like?"

Rachel looked up, blinking in surprise at the interruption, staring at her fellow DC in the eye. Janet was also surprised by the expected interruption, but she marginally hid it better than Rachel. "The do is just a get together at a paid for pub," she admitted honestly, correctly guessing this new DC had been told something different. That was the problem with new DC's; even after being in uniform for a few years to gain their experience working in the police, when they became DC's they forgot a cardinal rule; don't believe everything you hear. Coming out of her surprise, Rachel listened to what Janet was saying and added her own contribution. "Don't be hurt," she said to reassure the DC, it didn't occur to her, or Janet for that matter, that the DC could simply be aware of how the Christmas dos actually were, he was just asking for more info. "The do's like any other do, except here we have Christmas songs, Christmas music, Christmas food and so on. Plus, there's lots of booze flying about."

Janet suddenly turned to Rachel. "I thought you'd stopped drinking?"

Ever since the twins had been born, Rachel had become accustomed to not drinking any alcohol during her long, hard, heavy pregnancy. Even now she didn't drink anything, not unless she wanted she get drunk and do something stupid to have the twins snatched from her care. With Rachel Bailey, it seemed any disaster was possible.

"I have, but I do plan on having a few to celebrate," Rachel told her, and when Janet looked at her with an eyebrow quirked, Rachel sighed. "Janet, I've learnt my lessons," she whispered, forgetting momentarily the DC was still standing there, "I've got too much at stake, and I know only too well what would happen if I got beyond drunk. I only plan on having a couple of drinks, and that's it."

Janet still wasn't sure, but she had to admit that, from what she had seen over the past year or so, Rachel had improved, but she honestly hoped that she didn't fall back into her old patterns. Rachel had grown up quite a lot since Amber and Mikaela had been born, and their existence in her life had matured Rachel, but she would keep an eye on her to be sure.

* * *

"You know, whoever organised this party could have done a far better job," Rachel commented to Janet as the two policewomen were sitting, bored, at a small table in the pub and they weren't the only ones either, "I thought DCI Meadows was organising it this year."

"So did I," Janet said, gazing around herself with disappointment written across her face, though her expression was being mirrored by everyone else in the pub at the sorry excuse for a Christmas party. The party was taking place in a pub, rented for the evening, should have been booming with coppers teetering between pissed, passed out, and getting there. Instead, and for reasons that escaped Rachel and Janet and everyone else, no-one was putting up much effort. There was little in the way of music of Christmas, just like there was nothing really to speak of for Christmas food. The mince pies were few in number, and there was cheap and tacky shit that passed for bad party food

"He was organising it this year, right?" Janet glanced at her friend as they sat at their table, sipping their wines.

"If he was organising it this year then he's lost his touch," Rachel replied, sneering disdainfully at the senior officers who looked bored. DCI Meadows had always been good at organising bashes, and they usually ended in few hangovers and pounding headaches from a combination of loud music and booze, but if this was his work then maybe he should retire. She'd been looking forward to the party, having a laugh, maybe dance a bit...Sober, of course, but she just wanted to have fun. Instead the 'party' was like a library where no-one was allowed to speak or even laugh. And they called it Christmas.

"It wasn't Meadows who organised this," Gill Murray announced her presence by throwing herself into a chair between Janet and Rachel, surprising both women with her sudden appearance. "It was the Fat Controller." Gill sipped her drink, seething with annoyance at having to deal with the annoying DSI again.

"Superintendent Temple?" Rachel gaped. "Who's bright idea was it for him to organise this?"

"Meadows booked the pub, but he had to drop everything suddenly when his wife decided to divorce him. He had to leave early, and he wanted to be with his kids," Gill sighed through her explanation. "So, the powers that be handed the reins to Temple, god knows why. It could be 'cause no-one else was nearby and Temple got lucky. The guy may be a good detective and SIO, but he bores for all E.U nations combined."

It was rare for Gill to disrespect a fellow detective, but there were some she genuinely disliked, and DSI Temple was on that list along with a dozen others. Rachel couldn't blame her, ever since she had joined the MIT circles when Gill had invited her into the syndicate she had made a lot of friends in different syndicates and learnt more about the different people in the MIT sphere. DSI Temple was one of the few superintendents involved in the command of a syndicate, and he was known as a good detective. But the problem was he was a control freak to the point where he literally inserted himself into the lives of his officers, and she knew that many of Temple's own officers disliked him because of his boring speeches and lack of attention to other people despite him going to all the trouble of trying to invite himself to their weddings and dos. Quite a few of the officers who had the misfortune of working for him usually left within a year or so, but the record time was a month. Temple had never trained any of his officers to the level of Detective Sergeant, in fact none of the officers who worked for him bothered to inform him of their plans or ambitions of advancement. Rachel had no idea why that was, though she suspected it had something to do with Temple's controlling nature; he would help the DS's rise higher It wasn't until they'd transferred to somewhere else did they begin to flourish because they had left the man. There were quite a few wedding pictures where everyone was miserable because of the fat interloper who dressed to the nines, bored people to death, told kids what they could and could not do, giving out lectures and even having the gall to tell the bridge, the groom, the best man, the maid of honor and even the vicar how to do things. In that regard Temple's attitude was a dead ringer for Foghorn Leghorn, either the Fat Controller had adopted the pompous Looney Tunes cartoon character, or it had been based on his own, Rachel didn't know. The fact was nowadays no-one in Temple's syndicate bothered communicating in the office where or whenever a wedding, a party or anything social or personal was scheduled simply because no-one wanted the Fat Controller anywhere near them. Rachel herself had dealt with the man twice, and she could definitely say she would rather be in her flat listening to her twins screaming all day than listen to him ramble on about how wonderful he was. Even before she had joined the MIT and met Gill, Rachel had already developed a wall of heroes in the department, Gill had been number one, DSI Dodson a third, and Temple was not one of them. His reputation had circulated through the Manchester Met police. The Higher ups only put up with him and boring anecdotes simply because of his clear up rate. What the hell had possessed them to allow the man to bore everyone to death now?

"You know what, I might give the party a miss this year," Janet said mournfully as she looked into her drink, the oppressive atmosphere generated by Temple's presence was sapping her desire to even take one sip, she usually enjoyed the parties because it gave her the chance to not only enjoy the spirit of Christmas but also enjoy spending time with her mates, and party longer and harder than she did at parties after a case had been solved. Not this year, and all because of the Fat Controller. Janet could see him, sitting alone at the end of the bar counter, nursing a beer with his wide girth filling up space that would be taken by two other blokes. She felt no sympathy for the man sitting there all alone, she had lost sympathy for the man years before. Once, Janet had tried to be friendly to him during one of those numerous periods he was depressed, and he had thanked her by being drunk and lashing out. It had been a bad time for the man, she had known he had a broken relationship due to his boring nature. One of many, according to the grapevine. In hindsight, she should have been aware of how much booze he'd drunk, but she hadn't. She had hoped, more like assumed, that she could give him the metaphorical shoulder to cry on, but she had not reckoned how unfriendly the man was.

But over the years, Janet had learnt about the other ways the man had to make people feel bad around himself, how controlling he was of everyone and everything around him. It was so strange that for a detective who brought in results, got the job done, he was really not liked by anyone. Janet wondered why anyone would want Temple anywhere near the parties, let alone let him arrange one. Temple didn't like parties, he liked everyone doing things the way he liked, like a movie director bossing actors around to a script. That was probably why everyone who had tried to party, make the best of things, had been shot down.

Rachel glanced at her with a sigh, and she was about to agree with her since the party was going nowhere, then she was hit by a brainwave. "Why don't we go somewhere else there's a party?" she suggested to her two friends, who looked at her with sudden interest as though surprised the idea hadn't occurred to them, and she sweetened the deal by adding, "We can get everyone else, leave and then find a place. It's not like Temple will care."

Despite the clear disrespect towards a senior officer Gill didn't have a problem with the suggestion, nor did she care what the Fat Controller would do about it.

Temple hadn't moved from his seat the whole evening, so he didn't notice the three policewomen walk around the pub. He seemed lost in his own thoughts as Rachel, Janet and Gill whispered to the others, and he didn't pay any attention as the other officers left. That surprised Janet because usually Temple would have tried to involve himself in what he considered celebrations, but in truth It didn't take long for the other officers to disperse through the neighborhood to different clubs where the music was playing full blast; Rachel may have suggested going to A party, but that didn't mean they couldn't have fun anywhere else, and to be honest she didn't care if the others wanted to get away and party elsewhere.

Finally, Rachel, Gill, Janet, Julie Dodson and Roger Rutterford and Karen Zelinski found themselves in a club that like everywhere else barring the pub had the music blarring.

Rachel grinned and looked at the others. "Now this is what I call a party," she smirked. The others grinned as well, it didn't take long for either of them to find a table and ordered their drinks. Julie was shaking like a leaf being so close to Karen, the typical nervous reaction the usually self assured DSI had whenever she had to deal with the higher ups, but the ACC was off duty and couldn't care less what Julie was feeling, and she was presently feeling the alcohol she was ingesting leaving her inhibitions removed, and though he was married Rutterford was looking around the room at the gorgeous young ladies dancing around. He had enough self awareness of his marriage to not do anything stupid, but he wasn't going to let it ruin the rest of his night.

But Janet, Julie, Gill and Rachel were more interested in drinking quietly for the time being before they moved in with the crowd, Rachel was keeping an eye on her alcohol intake, but she was drinking. Although she was keeping a close watch on Rachel, Janet couldn't help but indulge, and soon she was partying with the guys. Unwilling to let Janet have all the fun, the other women stood up and started dancing as well.

The main difference between Gill and Julie after they'd had a few drinks was that Gill lost all of her inhibitions, and that included remembering her actual age, so even in her drunken state Julie couldn't help but laugh as Gill started undoing her top with two young lads who were as drunk as her friend. Looking around, Julie found herself blinking blearily at Karen Zelinski, laughing as she saw the blond woman feeling up and being felt up by another bloke. It was strange watching a woman who was incredibly strict and no nonsense dancing and feeling up a lad half her age, but Julie didn't care.

Julie wasn't the only one who didn't really care. Although she hadn't really done serious drinking like she had in the past, being mindful of her twins and the concern they could be taken away if enough reason was given, Rachel still did her best to have a good time. It wasn't difficult really; after dancing with a few nice guys, she had met a guy who seemed nice but quite withdrawn. In the past, she would have ignored him or anybody like him, but in this case she couldn't help but feel motherly. Rachel blamed Amber and Mikaela for that.

"What's wrong?" she asked him as loud as she could with the music, it was much softer now that the CD had changed tracks, but it was quite loud still.

The lad looked at her. He was easy on the eyes. "My girlfriend's over there," he pointed in a random direction, "getting hammered, and snogging someone else."

Rachel looked at him with sympathy. "I know how that feels." She looked around, seeking some sort of inspiration before it came to her. "Dance with me," she said to the lad.

He looked up at her, blinking in surprise. "But I don't even know you," he tried to protest, and Rachel cursed at the lack of inhibition he possessed. She smelt his breath and realised that although he had drunk something, he hadn't drunk enough to knock her to the ground and fuck her. Now, she didn't necessarily want him to fuck her, but that didn't mean she couldn't leave this party without a good memory.

"And I don't know you," she countered, "but I don't want you to remember this party with a sad feeling. Your girlfriend, if she can be called that, does she deserve to look smugly at you when Christmas is over and gloat that she had fun at your expense? Let's do this to make you happy, it doesn't have to be a long thing. Come on," she said after giving the lad a second to mull over her words. The lad stood up, only giving a few minor arguments, but when he hugged Rachel's body to him he felt this could be Christmas worth remembering as he danced with the kind woman.

The lad had no intention of lowering himself to the level his girlfriend was sinking too, and he couldn't help but wonder why he had even gone for the bitch in the first place. "Where do we go with this if this is just a one night stand?" he asked the woman in his arms.

Rachel looked up at him as they danced to a nice number. "Let's take it slowly, yeah? We don't have to do anything you don't want."

The lad smiled at her. "Thanks," he whispered.

* * *

Overall, it was a wonderful party. Janet had passed out on a table, a guy's hands on her legs, Gill had left with a couple of lads, Julie had also passed out. Karen and Roger they didn't know about. Rachel and her lad danced during the night. Rachel had assured the boy that they could do anything he wanted within reason, and though he had been shy at first, he only grew confident with her. Alison was quite put out and more than a bit surprised at the sight of Rachel's mussed hair when the younger Bailey sister arrived late, the reason she was put out, to care for the twins, and the globs of a familiar white liquid on her jacket, shirt and some small spots on her mouth. Alison didn't say a word. Instead, she simply shrugged her shoulders, guessing correctly what Rachel had done, but she was pleased it hadn't gone very far. She didn't say anything against it, Rachel had been through a lot with Sean and she had every right to look for a another bloke, whether for a long term or short term relationship, she didn't mind.

On Christmas morning, Rachel focused on the twins as they cooed and babbled as she helped them open their presents. Amber squealed as she ran her hands over her new dolls and teddy bear, whilst Mikaela was being helped by Alison's kids to open her own presents. Rachel had a small smile on her face as her twins made grabby motions with her hands towards the remaining presents, though Alison's kids quickly got hold of them and started opening them, much to the twins' disappointment.

Rachel had to withhold a laugh at her daughter's pouting faces. Amber turned her face towards her mother, and Rachel saw her daughter's lip tremble. She simply pulled the wrapping paper left over from the presents, and offered the paper to Amber and Mikaela, suspecting they were more interested in the paper, noticing how more interested they were in the bright wrapping paper. The toddlers instantly became more cheerful, cooing happily as they grabbed the paper.

Alison looked at Rachel and chuckled. "Maybe we should give them the paper," she suggested.

"Nah, they'll be okay," Rachel replied. "When they grow older, they'll be more aware of what we buy them, but I think they're still gonna love the wrapping paper."

"Maybe they'll frame it," Tony suggested jokingly, making Rachel and Alison roll their eyes at him.

 **Please tell me what you think. Leave a review, oh and Happy Christmas.**


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